What phone *doesn't* cost lots of money after 2 years?

[applegoddess]

This is a rant that's been bottled up since January 2007 (aka the announcement of the original iPhone). Seriously. It has irritated me so much and I can't believe people are STILL repeating it today:

Secondly, the iPhone is *much* more than $200. That's the subsidized price. By the time you finish with the contract, you've spent quite a bit on

Comments

[punk_apple]

Well. I would be one of those who's whining of the total cost. Unless it's the company that gets me an iPhone or crackberry or something similar, I'll stick with my old k750i and prepay. So under 10 euros a mont on my usage (with mostly overpriced SMS to US, and the rest of the calls etc are on skype, incl landlines to anywhere). I'm already all the time online at home and at work, ie 15+ hours a day.
But well.. it has to be compared to the phones/things that need a data plan, or it's pointless. So not that big deal in that comparison.

[applegoddess]

The thing is, prepay and very low usage people are the ones who would have a valid complaint.

But the argument when it shows up *and* is ever compared to another phone/plan, is usually to another smartphone with a monthly non-prepaid plan.

Basically my point is that *any* phone with a monthly voice+data plan is going to end up costing that much, so I don't understand why people even bring up that aspect.

[selectium]

I agree completely with the complaining. People act as though they wouldn't be paying anything with a different phone. Sure, if you get your phone service through work for free then the iPhone is an added cost. I *don't* have a free plan through work, so I'm going to get the, arguably, best phone on the market and pay for the data plan. The _same_ type of data plan I would get anywhere else except that I'll actually make use of it on my iPhone.

I agree wholeheartedly. Whiners need to stfu.

[applegoddess]

Exactly! :)

[dwizzy]

My phone.

I always calculate the TCO with my subscription/dataplan.
currently: €12,50 a month, for 18 months, including that ugly E61 I showed you. Including unlimited HTTP and enough credit to call and text with.

[applegoddess]

The iPhone is the first phone EVER where I have heard someone comparing it to the cost of another phone (usually a BlackBerry or other smartphone) by combining the cost of the fucking plan over two years. And I thought I heard it all from lurking on sites like hofo.

[dwizzy]

Perhaps in the US, it's less common. Here in NL, almost everybody more aware, compares the TCO. We have sites like www.telecomvergelijker.nl where you can choose your desired phone, call behaviour and get the total price for your phone and subscription. Comparing the subsidised price is quite unfair, isn't it?

[applegoddess]

if it was even across the board for identical plans I would not be offended. But I've seen jackasses pull out a $2000+ figure for the iPhone vs. their $100 blackberry. It's like they just decided oh, the plan doesn't count for their phone.

It makes total sense to compare TCO for evenly matched phones..or phones you want. Otherwise, nope.

[kakaze]

Found this today. Thought you might find it interesting:

http://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/5-reasons-to-avoid-iphone-3g

[applegoddess]

Yeah, I read it a while ago. FSF may do some good things, but they're off their rockers half the time.

The really really funny thing about how they're promoting the freerunner is that it's out of stock and unavailable for purchase in the US, it's $400, it only has GPRS and half the features of iPhone. There is no way in hell most sane people will buy it. It will only appeal to a niche market of hackers (in the non-malicious sense).

[cnst]

I've never seen anyone compare iPhone's TCO with some other phone's retail price with a contract.

That said, I'm tired of people claiming that the new iPhone is 200 cheaper than the older one. The new data plan is 10 dollars more expensive, and that adds up to 240 dollars a contract. So if anything, the new iPhone is more expensive, plus if you decide you like it so much as to keep it for sometime before signing up with a new contract, you're still going to be paying that 10 dollars a month towards someone else's phone. E.g. no way to get rid of the subsidy, is there?

I'd rather it be more apparent of what costs what and have fewer subsidies involved. Just make it a loan if someone wants it to.

[applegoddess]

Again with the iPhone only nonsense.

The cost of the phone is cheaper with a 2 year contract. Many people bought iPhone 2Gs with a 2 year contract and a technically-unsubsidized phone. If they get a 2 year contract with at&t for a 3G iPhone, then the subsidy saves them some money for the cost of the phone in exchange for the 2 year contract. Most newer smartphones are subsidized to the tune of $200 or more. The subsidy just moves Apple closer-priced to the rest of the market.

The $10 extra is for a 3g data plan, compared to edge, and has nothing to do with the subsidy. The total price of the data plan is pretty on-par with the rest of the industry for a non-tethering data plan regardless of contract status and regardless of subsidy. No matter which subsidized smartphone with data plan you go with, it's going to be similar even out of contract

[cnst]

> If they don't want to pay for a 3G data plan, they can go find themselves an edge phone and pay for an edge data plan.

That's the problem. iPhone 3G does support EDGE, doesn't it? So why do I have to pay 10 dollars more for the data plan even if I'd find it sufficient to use it with EDGE, let's say? IMHO, phones and contract should go separate.

[applegoddess]

That has absolutely NOTHING to do with your subsidy argument. Nothing